Leafy suburbs prove a magnet for criminals

THEY are some of the most salubrious parts of Edinburgh, with multi-millionaire banker Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin choosing one as his home.

But the most desirable areas of Scotland’s capital have proved a magnet for housebreakers, a study has found.

The Grange district of Edinburgh, where the disgraced former head of RBS lived, is in the country’s top five most-targeted areas for criminals.

So too is the EH4 postcode, which takes in Dean Village, desirable Comely Bank and Fettes College, alma mater of former prime minister Tony Blair.

The five biggest targets, according to research from MoneySupermarket, are districts or suburbs of Edinburgh. In the past two years, the most claims for theft of home contents came from up-and-coming Granton.

More than three- quarters of housebreakings last year were unsolved and hundreds were not properly investigated due to the time involved.

MoneySupermarket looked at two million home i nsurance quotes run on its website in the past two years to determine the areas with the most claims.

Explaining criminals’ preference for Edinburgh, the firm’s consumer affairs expert, Kevin Pratt, said: ‘Housebreakers have two thoughts uppermost in their minds – where am I most likely to find something worth stealing and where am I least likely to get caught? Our findings suggest housebreakers favour busy urban areas where strangers are unlikely to be spotted and it’s easy to make a quick getaway. But leafy suburbs are also heavily targeted, with housebreakers following the money to affluent areas.’

The EH5 postcode containing Granton has the highest number of insurance claim quotes for theft of home contents with 40.4 per 1,000 quotes – followed by EH4 with 29.4 per 1,000.

Outside Edinburgh, the homes most likely to be broken into are the districts of Anniesland, Knightswood and Yoker, on the western side of Glasgow.

However Scottish postcodes have significantly fewer housebreaking claims than most areas of England.